Raiders OT Veldheer taking workouts to new extreme

Jared Veldheer always was easy to spot in a crowd, at 6-foot-8, 325 pounds, even amongst his peers on the field in an NFL game. And that was before the Raiders left offensive tackle embarked upon a new workout regime and altered his diet this offseason.
Veldheer since has added five pounds and considerable muscle tone, something he shared on a Twitter picture earlier this year.
“It’s funny how that picture kind of exploded,” Veldheer said by phone as he prepared for the start of the Raiders offseason workout program in Alameda.
The picture shows Veldheer, 25, posing in a gym right after he finished lifting dumbbells. His bulging biceps prompted many to liken Veldheer to The Incredible Hulk.
Veldheer said he is surprised by how much attention he received for that picture. Ultimately, he wants to be recognized for his play as the blind-side tackle for the Raiders.
To that end, Veldheer always seeks ways to improve his strength, mobility, speed and blocking technique. This offseason, that meant following strength coach Mark Ehnis’ advice in the weight room and at the dining table.
“I feel a huge energy boost,” Veldheer said. “That’s gotten me ready quicker for the next workout. I’m just feeling good and I’ve been hitting some of the best weights that I’ve hit here, pretty much in my life. … I’m excited to get to use it all on the field.”
All the while, Veldheer was careful not to get so muscle-bound that it cut down on the mobility and flexibility he needs to succeed on the football field.
“That can happen if you’re not working on the right stuff, for sure, but I’ve been working on a lot of good stuff, a lot of mobility work and proper technique within the lifting,” Veldheer said. “I feel like I’m more mobile than I’ve been. I’m able to move lower. I feel like I’m at my quickest, too.”
Veldheer has started every game the past two seasons and 43 in of 48 in his three NFL seasons.
At times, he has played on a level commensurate with the game’s top left tackles. Yet, he’s never satisfied.
It’s a common sight to see Veldheer working on his technique and working out long after his teammates have exited the practice field.
“He’s the steady-Eddie guy,” Raiders coach Dennis Allen said of Veldheer last season. “You don’t really notice him and then, all of a sudden, you look up and you say, ‘Hey, he’s had a pretty nice day.’ ”
It won’t be hard to miss Veldheer this season judging by the recent picture.
“It (reflects) the work that I’ve put in,” Veldheer said. “It’s nice when people can respect that. At the end of the day, it’s not about the picture. It’s about trying to get better and getting stronger, faster and working on the drills I need to get better on the football field.”

“Now, I’m not saying everybody else gets that same shot, because not everybody else is my guy. But Reggie is the one hire that I made-him and Carson.”

That’s a message that even the players get. As Kelly walked out of the Qualcomm Stadium locker room following Oakland’s 2012 finale, a 24-21 loss to San Diego, he professed a clear vision for where he saw the Raiders headed. “We [used to] have one dude running the show. Things would get changed at the last minute because he would get involved. That doesn’t happen anymore. Now you’ve got a chain of command. The old man used to sit in on defensive meetings after practice. That doesn’t happen no more. It’s a tighter ship…. You can see where [McKenzie and Allen] said, ‘We’re going to bite the bullet our first year and ride out this tough season, get some more salary-cap room and go from there.’ There ain’t going to be no veterans around here. A lot of people are going to be sacrificed in the process, but they’re going to get it right

rediaR

Guest123 Says:
April 18th, 2013 at 1:10 pm
Problem I have with Moore was he got 114 targets last year and only snared 50 catches. That’s pretty horrible by anybody’s standard. You can try to pin some of that on Carson, but look at Carson’s completion pctg and that argument doesn’t hold water.
———————–
He was easily the least consistent of the three most targeted WRs (Streater, DHB, Moore). He does some good things, but he really has to step up his game this year.

RaidersAllday_LtsGeTit

If they do, it will be without Kelly, who, true to his own vision, was released by the Raiders last month following nine years with the team. As of last weekend 38 of the 53 players on the pre-McKenzie roster had been released, traded or allowed to leave as free agents.

Meanwhile, McKenzie and Allen stay, which may be a tough pill to swallow for Raiders fans given the turnarounds in recent years by the likes of the Colts, who went from 2-14 to the playoffs. But McKenzie’s plan always called for him to tear the whole thing down and rebuild for the long haul. That has meant upgrading the practice fields and the video and scouting departments, creating budgets and scouting templates, cutting up the credit card and getting the salary cap in order, researching what scouts and personnel on other teams were being paid so he could compensate his people fairly.

Ideally, McKenzie would hit the road for five to 10 scouting trips during a season. Last year he went out twice because there was too much work to do back home.

The_Judge37

Just Fire Baby Says:
April 18th, 2013 at 1:13 pm
Moore dropped too many passes last year, had issues with routes, etc.

Give a slight pass as a youngster in his 2nd year in his 2nd offense.

And even though next year will be year 3 and 3rd offense, no pass allowed.
——

Passes are only For Reggie and Coaches. D. Moore needs to step it up

J Hill

Dude can play and do just about it all, just not on the level of a #1 WR week in and week out.

————————————————————-

With Streater and Ford on the field WITH him, he’ll be even better.

They will all complement each other nicely.

RaidersAllday_LtsGeTit

But he’s expecting 2013 to be less hectic, in part because he’s done so much housecleaning this off-season. He released Seymour, Kelly and McClain, as well as safety Michael Huff and receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey. He traded Palmer to Arizona, then sent two middle-round picks to Seattle for Matt Flynn and got the QB to restructure his deal to make it more front-loaded, with incentives for performance. He also chose not to make serious runs at retaining free-agent defensive tackle Desmond Bryant or linebacker Philip Wheeler, who signed five-year deals worth $34 million and $26 million, respectively, elsewhere.

Of the 53 players under contract with the Raiders today, 11 have been signed in the last four months; and although at least $45 million in dead money is being carried on this year’s cap, the Raiders are expected to be at least $50 million under the ceiling in 2014.

Funny how it works out. That’s the year McKenzie has targeted for Oakland to be a real division contender.

Demon Raider

No harm no foul on that trade with the Vikes as they used that pick on a bust WR, Troy Williamson

rediaR

I don’t necessarily buy Justin Hunter. He could be good, but there are enough flaws to his game that I wouldn’t say he’s a sure fire #1.

Just Fire Baby

Hunter can’t catch though, if he could, he would be a top 10 pick.

But since he can’t, me might not even be a top 50 pick.

RaidersAllday_LtsGeTit

So an agent lied to Al making Al pay 1 million more dollars for a free agent bust then he had agreed to the next day.

Thats sad

Just Fire Baby

With Streater and Ford on the field WITH him, he’ll be even better.

********************************

Who is the “Ford” feller you speak of?

guest123

The 3rd year WR breakout theory is dead and buried. Wideouts come into the league ready to dominate in their first or second year.

What changed for Moore in terms of the offense that was significant? The line blocking changed and that affects the RB’s. But the sloppy route running, drops, lapses of concentration, head dropping jogging back to huddle? That’s on Moore.

Heck, I could argue that with more garbage time, he should have shined last year similar to Myers. He virtually disappeared in some games. Even for a guy with #2 wideout talent, that shouldn’t ever happen.

I don’t give him much of a pass for last year and certainly no pass for this year.

J Hill

I found that article on Mark Davis to be an interesting read.

#1 thing I take from that is Allen better win a strong 7 games THIS year, or he’s toast.

Demon Raider

He’s a better overall WR than Patterson.

Just Fire Baby

So an agent lied to Al making Al pay 1 million more dollars for a free agent bust then he had agreed to the next day.

Thats sad

*********************************

That is sad, that Al was running the show.

If the roles were reversed and Al was the agent, he would have asked for TWO MILLION!!!

Purvisman/Intrepid/Eternal Optimist

The discussion of ‘elite’ begins and ends with Super Bowl rings.

***

Agreed!
=======================================================

Does the ring automatically bestow elite status to the QB? Or is it merely a prerequisite? More rings= more elite? All one ringers equally elite?(Rodgers,Hostetler,Johnson,Dilfer,Stabler, etc.)
If the Steelers score in the last two minutes to win SB XLV, is Rodgers no longer elite, despite having played the exact same game?
What’s the criteria for deciding which SB winning QB’s are elite?
Are these questions difficult to answer?
Maybe because the premise is actually really stupid and indefensible?

Several teams are open to dropping down, including the Raiders (third overall) and the Lions (fifth overall), and, as Sports Illustrated reported, the Falcons are considering making a massive leap to the top of the first round, similar to jumping up to select Julio Jones a few years ago. The Lions, according to sources, are particularly open to falling back into the 20s. At this point, Atlanta seems to be targeting teams in the top five, sources said.

Not sure I would feel comfortable moving all the way down in the 1st rd unless the falcons gave us a bounty of picks, I mean they would have to give us there whole damn draft and then some next year

rediaR

I think we are looking at a 6th or 7th round WR from the draft this year.

RaidersAllday_LtsGeTit

Posted that article.. hopefully some rational fans can see what Reggie and Mark had to deal with since. Reggie spent alot of time upgrading the facilities.

That is the most important thing for a franchise.

guest123

Does the ring automatically bestow elite status to the QB? Or is it merely a prerequisite?

^^^^^^^^^^

merely a prerequisite. to which the list is scrubbed for outliers and then a final list is itemized accordingly to their ‘eliteness’.

RaidersAllday_LtsGeTit

RaidersBeat ‏@RaidersBeat 2h

Cardinals are believed to be exploring options to move up in the draft according to @OmarKelly of the Sun Sentinel.

——————–

RaidersBeat ‏@RaidersBeat 3h

Mayock thinks 3 top offensive tackles will be drafted in the top 6. Schefter indicated similarly yesterday. Arizona could be in a pickle.

rediaR

Realtruraider Says:
April 18th, 2013 at 1:22 pm
Several teams are open to dropping down, including the Raiders (third overall) and the Lions (fifth overall), and, as Sports Illustrated reported, the Falcons are considering making a massive leap to the top of the first round, similar to jumping up to select Julio Jones a few years ago. The Lions, according to sources, are particularly open to falling back into the 20s. At this point, Atlanta seems to be targeting teams in the top five, sources said.

Not sure I would feel comfortable moving all the way down in the 1st rd unless the falcons gave us a bounty of picks, I mean they would have to give us there whole damn draft and then some next year
—————————-
I wouldn’t do it without a first next year, or an equivalent level player.

Just Fire Baby

He had 7 TD’s last year, did we even score 28 TD’s all year?

He had like 25% of our TD production.

And he CLEARLY wasn’t on his A game.

I see no reason not to expect a 65/900/7 season from him.

CJ Legend 34

Nope! Eagles Offense – Chip Kelly

He will be productive.

———————————————
907.Demon Raider Says:
April 18th, 2013 at 12:39 pm
Pryor will fit more with the Skins cuz bed fit their play book better.

J Hill Says:
April 18th, 2013 at 1:20 pm
I found that article on Mark Davis to be an interesting read.

#1 thing I take from that is Allen better win a strong 7 games THIS year, or he’s toast.

============================================

I’d be OK with DA remaining for 2014 with a losing record this year, but only on ONE non-negotiable condition: that our losses are all games where the team plays over its heads for most of the game and just runs out of gas in the second half. That just means we need more talent, which will take time and drafting.

OTOH, if we have multiple uninspired blowout losses with the check-cashers gone from the building, then maybe DA isn’t the answer.

Hunter can be a beast. He just needs a little help with some mental stuff. 6’4 and ran a 4.36 40.

JLofty

Degnarlious sucked last year I won’t defend that.

BUT, like all our young guys drafted in the past dozen years….THEY HAVE A NEW COACH/Coord/SCHEME EVERY STINKING YEAR they play for us!!!

Needs to stop….

Purvisman/Intrepid/Eternal Optimist

guest123 Says:
What changed for Moore in terms of the offense that was significant? The line blocking changed and that affects the RB’s. But the sloppy route running, drops, lapses of concentration, head dropping jogging back to huddle? That’s on Moore.
======================================================

It goes beyond scheme and RB’s, though. Knapp probably could have designed even more ineffective running plays, but he put a lot of time into designing an ineffective air attack, too.

Raider Joseph

We are NOT getting an OT as our first pick. We are getting a D tackle. Either Floyd or Louteleli. You can pick up a tackle in the later round (as evidenced by Veldeer). Remember before last years buffoonery we had a very solid top 10 O-Line. The scheme killed it. We will load up on D and we will be competitive once they gel. If the other team cant score, we will be good…